Southern Unionists

The Southern Unionists were a faction of American politics which existed from 1860 to 1865. They were in favor of the American South's continued union with the United States and were stout opponents of secession. Following Abraham Lincoln's election as president in 1860, the Southern Unionists tried to calm southern fears, with congressman Alexander Stephens of Georgia arguing that Lincoln had promised to respect slavery where it existed. The Southern Unionists opposed the inevitability of war, as they believed that war would loosen the hinges of southern society and possibly even open the door to slave insurrection. Lincoln himself believed that, following the Confederacy's secession, the Southern Unionists would eventually come to power in the state legislatures and overturn the secession ordinances. During the war, over 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union's army, including 40% of Virginian officers. Some, including Newton Knight, rebelled against the Confederacy, with Knight creating the Free State of Jones in 1863. After the war's end and the start of Reconstruction, most Southern Unionists joined the Republican Party and were nicknamed "Scalawags".